The San Francisco Zoo has welcomed three Magellanic penguin chicks, the first in many years that are being reared by humans rather than their parents.
The trio, born almost four weeks ago, are the first penguin chicks hatched at the facility in almost three years and are thus being reared by humans because the adult penguins are “not at the experience level we prefer,” the zoo said in a news release.
Previously, the zoo’s prolific penguin colony had hatched two to five chicks per year since the late 1980s.
“We made the decision as part of this year’s breeding season, to pull any viable eggs and incubate them separately from the parents,” Brice Smith, assistant curator of birds, said in a statement. “We decided to hand-rear them, which entails nearly 24-hour care in the beginning.”
Magellanic penguins are native to the southern coasts of South America, primarily Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands, where they are listed as a near-threatened species.
Zoo officials said they follow the guidance of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which did not recommend breeding for the past few years because the colony had a well-balanced population of 50 penguins. After the deaths of a few penguins from old age or illness, curator Quinn Brown obtained the association’s approval for the colony to resume breeding, the zoo said.
“Breeding is highly strategic,” Brown said in a statement. “Some of our pairs have been very successful, and some are not approved to breed as their genetics may be overrepresented in accredited facilities.”
The three chicks are growing steadily and will have their “fluff” for the next several weeks, the zoo said. In the meantime, they are being hand-fed like the adults on Penguin Island.
“When they’ve matured a bit more, we will start teaching them how to swim,” Smith said.
The zoo plans to introduce the chicks to the rest of the colony this summer during its “March of the Penguins” for donors.
Later this summer, the zoo will introduce the chicks to the rest of the colony by hosting its popular “March of the Penguins” event for zoo members. The chicks will waddle and walk around the 200-foot-long penguin pool and then join the adults during their first swim in their new home.
“They are a little awkward, but get the hang of things easily,” Smith said.